Dakota's Advancement: The Discovery of Newfound Power
---- Dakota once again found herself in Hargeon, however, she was on a mission today. She wasn't going to be distracted by anything today, she was going to fulfill her training and make the absolute most of her time. As she headed along the path to Crashing Wave Guild Hall, she carefully recalled anything specific she could about how Silver had brought her in initially. Of course, not talking to anybody came to mind, however, Dakota didn't think that was possible unless Silver was the very first person she saw. As she stopped in front of the huge guild building, she took a deep breath, then knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer. Shortly thereafter, a young woman with short black hair did, smiling as she recognized Dakota. "You came here with Silver once, right? I suspect you're here to see her again, right?" She asks, and Dakota nods. "I'll go get her then," She says, disappearing, no doubt to do as she said she would, leaving Dakota to bounce on the balls of her feet, excitedly anticipating seeing the Ice-Make mage again. Silver was in her bedroom when Kendra had called her, something about someone here to visit her. "I swear to the gods if that's the damn rent collector I'm going to kick his ass." She mumbled to herself. Not only was running a guild expensive, renting the seashore castle didn't help her budget. Silver strode outwards and up towards the entrance of the guild as fast as she could. "Wan. If that's you I am going to punch a hole in your face, rent isn't due for another week!" The angry Ice Wizard was surprised to see the short, redheaded girl she had trained a few weeks ago. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She said rather loudly, turning multiple heads including Ginto and Souten's, the two calmer men chuckled to themselves and Ginto handed Souten a few jewel. "Did you all bet on what my reaction would be?" Her head whipped around and she glared at the pair of brown-haired men. Ginto shrugs and Souten cracked a smile saying. "He said you wouldn't be as dramatic and I said that you'd say something similar to what you just said. He took the bet." Silver turned back to the doorway, promptly pushed past Kendra, grabbed Dakota by the arm and pulled her outside shutting the door behind her. "What are you doing here?" She spoke in a calmer tone than she previously had, but she was still clearly angry. Dakota snorted when Silver mistook her for Wan, simply standing there, waiting for her to realize it was indeed, not the man who was trying to collect her money. When Silver does come to realize Dakota is Dakota, she shouts, and Dakota's eyes widen, too shocked to talk. Luckily, Silver takes her eyes off of her, her guildmates distracting her for a moment, giving Dakota enough time to recollect herself. When she pushes the dark haired woman away, dragging Dakota several feet away from the door, then questioning her again, though admittedly less gruffly than before. "I'm here to take you down!" She proclaims. "Or, I'm here to fight you," She corrects, smiling brightly. "No." Silver promptly turned around and began to walk back towards the doorway. She was in no mood to fight. She was dealing with the backlash of a disaster she caused a few days ago. The Magic Council were on her ass about the "destruction of government property" claim. She only knocked down a telephone pole... which may have shut down an entire power grid. It was irritating. She caught the bad guy, so what harm was done? Dakota latched onto Silver's arm. "I did not travel all the way to Hargeon just to be told no," She mutters, then adds, in a much louder tone, "Aw, c'mon Silver, just a short spar! What's so bad about it anyway, it's not like we can hurt anything if we go somewhere safe, and there're miles of beaches with absolutely nothing to that we could destroy or hit unless disrupting some sand is now against the law." On instinct, Silver's fist collided with Dakota's face. She turned, fury in her eyes. "I told you to get out of here." Dakota quickly ducked out of the way, sighing. "No, you didn't, you told me you didn't want to spar. What's got you so worked up anyway? It's not like I came here threatening to take away your guild or something, just wanted to throw some punches," She says, letting go of Silver's arm. "But if you this adamant on getting me out of here, then fine, I count this as a victory on my part," She says, hoping the prospect of a competition will get Silver to join. "What the hell did you just say?" Silver turned to face Dakota, the usual fiery spark in her eyes returning at the prospect of a challenge. "I'll take you on, but this time, I'm not going easy." Silver pressed her hands against the ground and spoke calmly. "Ice-Make: Frozen World." A layer of crystalline ice covered the world around them. It snaked across the ground and her guild hall, sealing them in winter. Unusually, it was not Silver's signature black-ice, but regular ice. It seemed like she was saving her specialty ice for later. Dakota smirked, her hands glowing faintly as translucent purple ice encased them, getting into a low stance. Two knives poked from beneath each of her wrists, hardly visible even to the trained eye. "I'm glad you see things my way," She says, watching with interest as the ground was covered in ice. "A unique decision in the face of another ice mage," She comments, glancing around their chosen battlefield, though being mindful of Silver's movements in case she decides to attack. She creates a few bombs, each one small enough to fit in the spaces between her fingers though each one held more magical energy than it was fit to contain, resulting in a relatively unstable creation. However, Dakota was unconcerned, knowing full well that the ice would only hurt for a bit if it happened to, quite literally, blow up in her face. Silver's expression grew dark and a small seal appeared under her feet. "Gear 2. Ice-Make Ashikos." It was clear that Silver was using two spells, a high-speed spell to enhance her speed and with her ice magic, she attacked spikes to the bottom of her real foot, and fake foot. These would allow her to run along the ice at her fastest speed while maintaining her grip. She continued her preparation. "Ice-Make: Kunai." Several icy kunai formed along Silver's outstretched arms. "LAUNCH." She signaled, sending the projectiles flying at Dakota. Dakota watched as the ice spikes seemed to grow from Silver's feet, though she didn't make any action against, nor take any measures to prepare for the slick terrain she needed to travel across. As stupid as a decision as it seemed, Dakota was unconcerned with it, plenty confident in her abilities as evident by the smirk on her face. As the kunai appeared along Silver's arms, she prepared the bombs in her hands, charging the magic power within them even further. As they flew towards her, she threw the bombs as well, the icy shards bursting and colliding with the sharp projectiles, ultimately ending with both of their attacks being destroyed in the middle. "Ice-Make: Arrows," She enchanted, a bow forming in her grip as she drew her arms up, and thirteen arrows shot towards Silver, predominantly being purple, though some being the standard smoky white. She then kicked off the ground, sliding smoothly behind the arrows, placing her hands roughly a foot apart from each other, a scythe forming in her grip with the blade on her right side when she stated, "Ice-Make: Scythe." She stopped a few yards in front of Silver or where Silver was if she moved the edge of the weapon serving to kill her momentum as it dug into the ice below it. She kept her grip loose on the scythe so that she could easily maneuver it between her hands, though wasn't so relaxed that it would slip between her hands. "Slip." Silver smiled, enchanting Dakota's scythe with incredibly slippery ice, almost guaranteeing that it would fall out of her hand. Her gauntlets clicked on, triggering the lowest setting of the Flame Demon Gauntlets which only burned at a measly 1000°c at its fullest flame. The flames burst from her gauntlets and Silver started to punch the arrows flying towards her; although she managed to block most of them one slipped by her fake knee and weakened her ice leg. The guild master couldn't help but smile. She was a skilled wizard after all. "Ice-Make: Broadsword." She gripped a large heavy broadsword in her left hand, leaving her right alight with the flames. "Come." Dakota's scythe suddenly became much harder to grip, so Dakota just got rid of it, the frozen creation going towards further powering up her gloves, Silver's own addition falling down to the ground. Seeing that one of her arrows had managed to hit, Dakota shifted to her right, her feet stepping lightly over the frozen land. As the older woman created a massive sword, Dakota's face lit up in a smile. "Ice-Make: Cold Excalibur," She enchanted, a sword of her own forming in her grip though she chose to use both of her hands instead of just one. "Ice-Make: Spiders, Ice-Make: Floor" She enchants, several dozen 8-inch spiders appearing behind Silver, as well as the ground beneath Dakota becoming layered over with purple ice, however, it was extremely rough and bumpy unlike the ice made by Silver. Dakota then kicked off the ground, the terrain giving her the necessary grip to do so, and once she got off her small patch, she was able to continue without losing her momentum, and she swung the large sword from her lower left up to her right, intending to strike and damage Silver's artificial leg further. The spiders also stepped forward, easily standing atop the ice because they were spiders and they could walk on ceilings, and ice didn't particularly change the fact that they did what they wanted. Aside from that, they went towards Silver's opposite leg, their aim to distract her and temporarily weigh her down, each one independently weighing only a little less than a fourth of a pound, though collectively, the weight would be much greater. Should they be able to scale her leg, they would bite her, their frozen pincers doing little else than annoying her and possibly drawing blood though this was not guaranteed. In response, Silver's smile turned into a sneer as her nose crinkled. She charged her right gauntlet, leaving her palm open so she could create a ball of flames to take out the spiders. The flames charged to an appropriate size and the black-haired woman send the flames at the spiders, not only melting them but the ice underneath them. She then took down her Frozen World spell, finding it unnecessary at the time, it was more of an attempt at intimidation, not an actual tool to fight with and Dakota Fath was clearly not intimidated, so there was no point keeping it up. The sword, however, met its target and sent Silver tumbling to the ground. "Fuck me." She mumbled. It was a pain in the ass to reform her leg but it had to be done nonetheless. She quickly reformed it in time to dodge another one of Dakota's quick, yet heavy strikes and grabbed her own Ice sword once again. "Broadsword Art: Frostbitter!" One of Silver's specialties was adding ice magic effects to her weapons which came incredibly useful in situations like this. She thrust the sword in towards Dakota's stomach, which would surely leave frostbite and large laceration if it met its mark. Silver hoped that the woman could at least lessen the blow with a patch, but it was not in her interest to save her enemy if Dakota didn't think on her feet. Dakota pouted in disappointment when her spiders were dissipated, though it was quickly replaced with glee when she destroyed Silver's leg. Her nose crinkled in amusement at what Silver said, making note to remember such a phrase for later. When she went in for another hit, however, she hit nothing but air when Silver dodged out of her path. She drew up her sword parallel to her body, detecting Silver's next attack. She charged more ethernano into the ice blade, causing it to nearly triple in size, though she could no longer hold it up as effortlessly, so she allowed it to stab into the ground. Silver's attack hit the sword, her black ice encasing Dakota's sword's blade. "Ice-Make: Shield," She enchanted, a curved sheet of ice appearing on Silver's right that extended behind her. She then leapt up, balancing on the sword's hilt, swinging around and encasing her leg in ice and aiming a kick at Silver's left side. Ultimately, she aimed to kick Silver and smash her into the opposite ice wall, while the one behind her was designed to make sure she didn't just jump backward out of the way. Silver raised an arm, lighting it ablaze. It only lessened the impact as Silver was thrown into the wall. Her head was ringing at the blow but Silver returned to her feet in almost an instant. "You sure got the drop on me." She said before charging her gauntlets up again. Silver triggered Gear Four of her High Speed magic and launched a flurry of punches at Dakota's torso and face. Black ice began to crawl up from the ground underneath Dakota's legs attempting to capture her for a brief moment to ensure that at least, Silver's first punch hit. Dakota's eyes went wide when she realized Silver's incoming set of hits, forming an ice shield in front of her, solely to slow down the other woman's momentum as she took a few rapid steps back, pouring more energy into her gauntlets as she did to prepare for when Silver came at her. Because of her movement, she was able to avoid being trapped in the black ice, though her worries were not over. Dakota crossed her arms in front of her, carefully watching Silver's movements and adjusting slightly to best guard against the incoming attack. Of course, her flame-charged punches still hurt, no doubt leaving lasting marks on Dakota's forearms despite the ice that covered them. She hissed in pain, jumping back again, thankfully to see Silver had stopped in her rampage. "Ice-Make: Crescent Blades," She states, swinging her arm across her body and launching several curved blades towards Silver. "Ice-Make: Shield," Silver said, her hands on the left side of her waist as the spell was cast. The blades clattered off of the strong surface then fell to the ground. Even though her shield hadn't been thick, the density at which she had created it was able to completely stop the momentum of the blades. Silver dissipated the shield and dropped down into a crouch, pressing her hands against the ground. "Ice-Make: Flytrap!" A flower burst from the ground underneath Dakota which would first, send her upwards into the air, and as she fell, engulf her within, trapping her within a flower-shaped cage. As Dakota was launched into the air, she created a staff, and when she fell back towards the waiting trap, it stuck on either side of its open maw. She swung back and forth on the pole until she built up the momentum to sit atop the surface. She jumped down, pulling the staff with her as it changed into a hammer, held at her side as she charged towards Silver. Once she got within a few feet she came to a halt, turning and swinging the massive weapon towards Silver's side. Silver caught the shaft of the hammer in both hands then twisted downward, splitting the hammer in half. Due to gravity, the mallet of the hammer stopped abruptly and plummeted near Silver's feet. She let out a low whistle. "Dakota, I'm impressed. You're one of the few people that broke through that spell without punching it into smithereens, but I haven't gone as far as I should've with your training. You see, I have two colors." A ball of sable ice formed in her left hand, while a ball of crimson red formed in her right. "Pain and Rage are what fuel my ice. You've only experienced one, but now it is time for you to face both." She combined the forms of ice to create a deep maroon ice, which was then adapted into a blade as Silver used the Ice-Make: Sword spell. She thrust forward in a burst of speed, straight towards Dakota's stomach. Dakota's eyes went wide when Silver simply caught the hammer's shaft in her hand. Sure, Dakota wasn't the bulkiest, but she sure as hell didn't put enough force behind her swing to knock Silver yards away from her. "I didn't break through it, I just outsmarted it. Doesn't take a genius to understand that sometimes brains is better than brawn," She said quickly, knowing the moment she lost her cool was the moment she lost the entire match. However, when the older woman introduced her new ice, Dakota felt as though she had been frozen in place. She couldn't beat Silver's ice when it was just black, how was she going to beat it when it was two colors combined? She wasn't, that much was clear, so she had to leave, like, five seconds ago or else she was going to be skewered. So when the deep red blade came towards her stomach, Dakota did what any sane person would; she grabbed onto the blade. Luckily she was able to stop it before it touched her abdomen, though it had cut cleanly through her gauntlets and into her hands. She hissed in pain, sliding her hands over the weapon until they touched. "Ice-Make: Knuckles," She spat, several pale purple magic circles appearing on Silver and beneath her feet. Less than a second later, massive fists came forward from the marks, aiming to knock Silver some ways away so Dakota could handle her bleeding hands. Silver's eyes seemed to burst from their sockets as she got thrown backward by the ice-made fist that had slammed into her stomach. She skidded to a stop a few meters away and slowly pulled herself up. She had the guts to stop my ice with her own hands. Silver thought and stayed in her crouching position. "You've got guts girl. Let me in on a little secret. People thought I was weak because of my disability, but I'll tell you now Dakota. Don't take shit from anyone. The world doesn't owe you any favors and it's just going to try its damnest to drag you down and that just means that you've got to fight harder to prove yourself. People say hell is unfreezable. Either because it's too hot, or because it's already frozen. I decided to give it a taste of my magic anyways, and you should too. Now, give me your best shot." Silver stood, spreading her arms wide, leaving her body wide open and defenseless to an attack. Dakota took the chance and completely froze over her hands, stopping the blood flow and shaking them out. She readied her hands, waiting for Silver's next move, lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet. She hadn't anticipated the spiel from the older woman, though she didn't still for a moment, still waiting and anticipating another attack. When Silver left herself wide open, Dakota did pause however, her head cocking to the side as a quizzical look came over her face. "Silver, I don't have a 'best shot.' I use what I have and it's all pretty even in terms of power. Sure I have a trump card—well, two technically, but the first one isn't mine per se—but I'm not using it on you unless I need to. I'm not bearing my strength to you just so you can find a way around it. I'm fighting with all my tricks until I can't anymore, and then I'll use my final attack when the time comes. Also, it's against my guild's moral code to strike down upon somebody who's not defending themselves, it's just common decency." Dakota took in a slow, steady breath, staring hard at Silver. "You made a mistake in showing me a fancy trick and leaving me time to think it over. You see, I'm no Einstein, but when it comes to magic, I don't like to be left behind. Too bad for you," She stated, before placing her hands together. She channeled her magic into her palms, willing and believing something fantastical would happen. She created a sword, something easy, she could handle this, and at first, nothing appeared different. In fact, it wasn't even purple, just that smoggy white color. She wanted to scream. Then the ice around the hilt started morphing, slowly turning until it was deep pink, almost red. The ice burned her hands it was so cold, even through the gauntlets, and Dakota almost dropped the weapon right there. "Fight me like you mean it," She ground out, hoping the immense pain was somehow hidden from the older woman. "Defend your title and show me you deserve it." "You're in pain. You barely mastered your prominent emotion, what made you think you could handle another so quickly? I've had this ability since I was young, I know every aspect of it and I can tell that it's affecting you." Silver walked forward, brandishing a maroon sword in her hand. "Calm down. I don't want you to hurt yourself. Please. You're strong enough to beat me, but this is going too far." Dakota scowled at Silver, gripping the sword in her hands tighter. It's color faded somewhat, either because Dakota was getting overwhelmed by the pain or her magic wasn't able to support it, was unclear. "I can't give up, Silver. I've already gotten this far, stopping now would just be stupid," She said, her eyes burning with the same fiery passion that colored her blade. Her jaw was set, and every part of her screamed to just drop the damn weapon and do something else. Instead, she raised the sword to be on level with Silver's. "Fight me until I drop because that is the only way I'm going down." "Okay. I'll end is quickly then." Silver closed her eyes and spoke. "Gear 10." She reopened her eyes and seemed to vanish before reappearing briefly in front of Dakota aiming a sword strike towards her left shoulder before disappearing again. She had triggered the fastest speed she possibly could. She was able to move a mile within 54.2 seconds if she needed to, but she was focusing the magic more into her reflexes and agility. The maroon sword in her hand was shimmering brightly as it reflected in the light, the only hint of where she was while she circled around Dakota. Dakota didn't see or know what was happening until it was too late. One moment the dark-haired woman was before her, and the next she felt a searing pain in her shoulder, forcing her to drop the sword as she grabbed the wound. The blade shattered into pieces when it fell, and Dakota sunk down to her knees as she held her arm. Ice climbed along her limb, numbing the pain, though she no longer had anything to keep her going, to make her stand up again. She slammed her hands on the ground, fissuring it beneath her fists. Her ice gauntlets fell away as well, leaving her scabbed hands bear on the ground. "I'm so stupid," She breathed out, staring at her hands, willing the tears away. She was so weak, so full of herself, and what had it achieved? Nothing. She had thrown it all away, she didn't have anything to show for her hardships, didn't gain anything except a secondary emotion she couldn't even control. Silver stopped moving, ceasing all of her magic. She didn't know what to say, Silver had never been any good at emotional things. "You're not stupid." Silver mumbled, taking a seat beside Dakota. The guildmaster promptly tore the hem of her shirt, then took Dakota's hands, wrapping them with the strips of fabric. "Don't let them get infected." Dakota shook her head. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am. I practically threw the match just so I could I prove I could do anything you can, which I obviously cannot. It was utterly pointless to even challenge you today, the outcome wouldn't have been any different anyways. I'm too naive and inexperienced to be fighting you." She sighed, flexing her hands over the fabric wrapped around them. She blinked her eyes a few times to clear her eyes before turning her gaze to Silver. "You're uncomfortable because I look like I'm about to go waterworks on you. I promise I won't, and it's not your fault either, so you can relax." She said, sitting up and getting her knees out from under her before plopping down on her butt. "You're growing every day. You'll beat me someday, and I never go easy on anyone." Silver sighed, rubbing the sweat off her forehead. Silver began to fiddle with her leg again, this time creating a scene of two figures ice-skating until one of them pulled the other one down and they were locked in an awkward pose, before the figures stood, interlocking their hands and walking away. "You'll be fine. I'm a tough nut to crack." Dakota laughed lightheartedly. "If only that were true, I haven't grown since the sixth grade," She said, wiping her face. "But you're right. I'm totally gonna whoop your ass one day. I don't care if it's because you're old and frail, I'll even push your wheelchair off a cliff if I have to," She said, her smile brightening with the promise of the future. She quickly hopped up onto her feet, offering her hand to the woman. "I have a great story to tell my guildmates. Do you think it'd be fair if I embellished the part where you got slammed by my ice fists, and I 'forget' when you slashed my shoulder?" "Do what you will Dakota, you deserve it. Now, I've got to get back to work." Silver's head already pounded at the mention of all the paperwork she had to do. "I'm proud. You lasted longer than most against me." Silver stood, and a dizzy spell took over momentarily before recentering her balance. "Now then. Good luck." Silver said, reaching her hand downward to help Dakota to her feet. Dakota took the proffered hand, hopping up onto her feet. "Goo luck with your work as well. Remember, short breaks are good, especially if they involve physical activity. It gets your heart pumping faster so the blood moves to your head faster and your brain works better," She says, giving Silver a thumbs up. Silver smiled, waving as the woman left, but as she left the guildmaster's gut wrenched and she coughed into her hand, grimicing at the sight of the scarlet blood in her palm. "Damn. She really got a few in on me. I'll have to be careful next time." She wiped the blood off of her hand and onto her arm, making it look like a cut. "I probably broke a rib or two... Internal bleeding for sure. She's more powerful than she thinks." Category:Roleplay Category:QOS Roleplay